Our Team

Meet the Spiritual Life team: chat over chai, find community or resources, connect with people, get involved with programs that center on questions of spirituality and meaning, seek spiritual care.

Spiritual Life Team

Tauseef Akbar

Tauseef Akbar

Associate Director, Spiritual Life; Coordinator of Muslim Life

773.702.2484
takbar@uchicago.edu

As Coordinator of Muslim Life, I advise, facilitate, advocate for and support our vibrant Muslim community on campus. As chaplain I also offer spiritual care and counseling to the whole campus community. I joined Spiritual Life in the Fall of 2022, after serving as Chaplain of Muslim and Interfaith Life at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges. If you have questions about Spiritual and Religious Life or regarding the Muslim community on campus don’t hesitate to reach out to me and/or set up an appointment. I also enjoy discussions around shared interests of religious studies, literature, history, creative writing, graffiti, travel and chess!

Jigna Shah

Jigna Shah

Senior Associate Dean of Rockefeller Chapel; Director of Spiritual Life

773.834.1885
jigna@uchicago.edu

As Associate Dean and Director of Spiritual Life, I oversee and manage support for religious and spiritual life on campus, including addressing the needs of students of particular traditions, facilitating understanding of and across traditions among other things. A native New Yorker commuting from Plainfield, IL–I joined UChicago in 2005 and the Rockefeller & Spiritual Life team in 2011. I love UChicago’s Shake Day tradition, chai, chats, board games and Netflix binges! Come see me for any of the above or anything else (even coffee!) (Pronouns: she/her).

 

Kimraj Jordan

Kimraj Jordan

Spiritual Life Program Coordinator

  • Divinity School
  • Coffee or Tea: Coffee
  • Hometown: Fullerton, CA
  • Fun Fact: I have aphantasia which means I don’t make pictures in my head when I read/think!
Arlene Li

Arlene Li

Spiritual Life Program Coordinator

  • College
  • Coffee or Tea: Neither, I love hot chocolate best!
  • Hometown: Beijing, China
  • Fun Fact: I am a huge fan of hiking and swimming.
Dylan Mears

Dylan Mears

Spiritual Life Program Coordinator

  • Divinity School
  • Coffee or Tea: Coffee
  • Hometown: Lexington, KY
  • Fun Fact: I love embroidery and have been working on one project for over a year and a half!
      Diego Orrego

      Diego Orrego

      Spiritual Life Program Coordinator Lead

      • College
      • Coffee or Tea: Mocha
      • Hometown: Kensington, MD
      • Fun Fact: I make a mean loaf of focaccia
      Nuria Rodgers

      Nuria Rodgers

      Spiritual Life Program Coordinator

      • Crown School of Social Work
      • Coffee or Tea: Coffee
      • Hometown: Plainfield, IL
      • Fun Fact: I have a cat I love very much! It’s my baby!
      Katarina Stanisavljevic

      Katarina Stanisavljevic

      Meditation & Yoga Facilitator

      • Divinity School
      • Coffee or Tea: Oolong Tea
      • Hometown: North Riverside, IL
      • Fun Fact: I originally went to art school to study photography
        Jessica Taing

        Jessica Taing

        Yoga Facilitator

        • Crown School of Social Work
        • Coffee or Tea: Tea
        • Hometown: Brandenton, FL
        • Fun Fact: Ratatouille is my ultimate comfort movie. I rewatch it every month or so!
        Omari

        Omari

        Office Dog

        • Service animal
        • Hard or Soft Toys: Soft
        • Hometown: Concordia, KS
        • Fun Fact: I (sometimes) bark and wag my tail while sleeping.

            Spiritual Life Liaisons

            Spiritual Life recognizes individuals from particular traditions who serve the campus as a whole, and also works with campus partners from key offices.

            Advisors, listed below, work with Spiritual Life and other campus partners to provide support for members of their own and other traditions. They may be clergy or representatives of non-profit organizations, or faculty or community partners who work with students of traditions where no professional advisor exists. Advisors sign and abide by the Ethical Framework for Religious and Spiritual Life.

            TBD

            TBD

            Student Wellness Liaison

            773.834.XXXX

            LaSabra Williams

            LaSabra Williams

            Center for Leadership and Involvement Liaison

            773.702.2202
            lasabra@uchicago.edu

             

            Sean Lee

            Sean Lee

            College Liaison

            773.834.0872
            silee@uchicago.edu

             

            Spiritual Life Advisors

            Jon Aaron
            Advisor
            JAaron1@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Insight Meditation
            (Pali Tradition)

            The Rev. Stacy Alan
            Chaplain
            salan@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian (Episcopal)
            Brent House, Canterbury Club

            Saba Ayman–Nolley
            Advisor
            saymannolley@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Bahá’í
            Bahá’í Student Association

            Mrs. Baila Brackman
            Rabbi
            chabad@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Jewish 
            Chabad, JGrads

            Rabbi Yossi Brackman
            Rabbi
            rabbi@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Jewish 
            Chabad

            Reverend Angie Buchanan
            Advisor
            angiebuchanan@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Pagan Animist
            Earth Traditions / University of Chicago Pagans

            Rev. Eric Flood, DMin
            Campus Staff Minister
            eflood@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian (Interdenominational)
            InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship

            Mrs. Rebecca Flood
            Campus Staff Minister
            becky.flood@intervarsity.org
            Confidential Resource
            Christian
            (Evangelical Covenant Church)
            Graduate Christian Fellowship

            Jenn George
            Advisor
            jcgeorge@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Jewish
            Hillel

            Swami Ishatmananda
            Advisor
            info@chicagovedanta.org
            Confidential Resource
            Hindu
            (Vedanta Society of Chicago)
            Hindu Sangam

            Brother Adam Jardine
            Advisor
            JardineAR@ChurchofJesusChrist.org
            Christian
            (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
            Latter-day Saint Student Association

            Samuel N. Landon
            Advisor
            snlandon@uchicago.edu
            Catholic 
            Calvert House

            Rev. Dr. Woo Min Lee
            lwm0408@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian
            (United Methodist Church)
            Korean-American United Methodist Campus Ministry

            Moises Mendez
            Campus staff
            moisesm@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian (Ecumenical)
            Christians in Business at Booth

            Rev. David H. Messner
            Sr. Minister
            messner@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            (Unitarian Universalist)
            Campus Ministry, First Unitarian Church

            Bing Nieh
            Pastor
            bnieh@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian
            (Evangelical, Protestant/Non-denominational)
            The University Ministry of Christ Church Chicago (UMC3)

            Charles Nolley
            Advisor
            cnolley@uchicago.edu
            Bahá’í
            Bahá’í Student Association

             

            David Park
            Campus Pastor
            davidpark@uchicago.edu
            Christian
            (Southern Baptist, SEND Network)
            International Student Fellowship
            Voyage College Church

            Matthew Podszus
            Director
            mpodszus@uchicago.edu
            Christian (Protestant)
            CANA Journal, Poema, Veritas Forum

            Kevin J. Priest
            Director of Graduate Life
            kevin@uchicagohillel.org
            Jewish
            Hillel

             

            Rabbi Mendel Rapoport
            Rabbi
            rabbimendel@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Jewish
            Chabad, JGrads 

            Michael Schnabel, PhD
            Buddhist Advisor
            mschnabel@uchicago.edu
            Chan / Zen Buddhism,
            UChicago Buddhist Association, Wednesday Chan/Zen Meditation @Rockefeller Chapel

            The Rev. Matthew Stuhlmuller
            Campus Pastor
            mstuhlmuller@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Christian (Lutheran, ELCA)
            Lutheran Campus Ministry

             

            Reverend Andrew M Wawrzyn
            Chaplain
            awawrzyn@uchicago.edu
            Confidential Resource
            Roman Catholic
            Catholic Student Association Graduate Catholic Student Association

            Miwa Yasui
            Associate Professor
            Faculty Advisor for AAIV
            myasui@uchicago.edu
            Christian
            Asian American Intervarsity

            Kirstin Yu
            Advisor
            kyu42@uchicago.edu
            Christian
            Asian American InterVarsity

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